We recognize that each person has their own beliefs. We respect each individual's
belief and their right to hold their beliefs sacred and private. Spirituality - as we
define it - has no religious component or preference; it is a way of expressing more
humanity.

Creativity includes the use of color, laughter and freedom to enhance
productivity. Creativity is fun. When people enjoy what they do, they work much
harder.

Creativity includes conscious efforts to see things differently, to break out of
habits and out-dated beliefs to find new ways of thinking, doing and being.
Creativity
is a natural, normal aspect of healthy human beings.

Suppression of creativity leads to violence - people are naturally creative.
When they are forced to crush their creativity, its energy force turns to
destructive release - their inherent humanity must express itself!

Communication, Communication, Communication! This is the vehicle
that allows people to work together. In our society, our learning process is based on
learning to communicate with teachers and parents (usually, by learning how not to
get punished).

When we go out into the world, most of us have not learned how to communicate
with our peers for the purpose of achieving something beneficial for all of us.
We
constantly try to win the favor of the "parent" or "teacher" or
"adult" - usually a management figure. We try not to get punished.
This behavior
leads to subterfuge among employees - trying to figure out how to beat the system, gain
extra favors, say the "popular" thing or to keep our views to ourselves rather
than "rock the boat."

How many companies are working to overcome these learned patterns of behavior taught to
us, by replacing them with truly effective communication and teamwork programs?
Learning to listen to others and really hear them, speak the truth - your own
truth, and come together in a human understanding leads to powerful productivity
for all involved. Whether a personal relationship or a work relationship,
one of the most important skills anyone can learn are good communication
skills.

Respect of self and of others; includes: respect for the environment;
other people's personal privacy, their physical space and belongings; different
viewpoints, philosophies, religion, gender, lifestyle, ethnic origin, physical ability,
beliefs and personality.

In school, we learn "team" work by competing with each other and competing
with other teams. We aren't usually taught "team work" in how to work with other
students as equals.

When we go out into the world, most of us have not learned how to work together
as equals. The old patterns and training come forth through lack of respect for our
peers, our management, our employees, and our customers. We try to compete with them, and
we try not to get punished.

When we learn respect for our peers, we can come to acceptance of their
differences. We can learn to use those differences for our mutual benefit.
For example,
the person who can sit all day in front of a computer and be productive can help the
person who works best by talking and moving around. Both functions are important.
Rather
than criticizing the other for being different, we can learn how different people see the
world. Our Personality Game is one way to do this

Along with Respect comes Acceptance, which includes
acceptance of the inherent right of
each person to follow their chosen life path, and acceptance that diversity and variety
lead to a rich mixture of humanity.

Vision means seeing beyond the obvious - seeing the unseen. It is a trait used
to describe leaders and entrepreneurs.

Where does vision come from? For some people, it is an inborn trait.
They have
always seen things that others cannot see. Others learn to broaden their perspective, to
question the obvious, to reach beyond where they are, to follow a dream. They see a vision
of what can be, of possibilities beyond the status quo. And, having seen the vision,
they head straight for it! They follow their vision in spite of obstacles or
non-believers.

Vision can be learned. The only requirement is a strong desire to want to learn,
coupled with a strong desire to grow and expand beyond where you are.

Some excellent techniques for learning to see beyond the obvious can be found in these
books: What a Great Idea, by Charles Thompson (1992, HarperCollins), Trend
Tracking by Gerald Celente (1991, Warner), The Popcorn Report, by Faith Popcorn
(1991, Doubleday), Leadership Challenge (2002, Wiley)

Your contribution to the collective positive energy is using your own
creativity, communicating well, having respect for others, adapting to changing
situations, working well with others and enjoying what you do. Your contribution to the
collective negative energy is withholding your talents, communicating without
respect, fighting and arguing with others, resisting changes, creating tension with others
and hating what you do.

You play a significant role in the overall energy force - each person can
contribute positive energy or negative energy.

Which type of energy would you rather have surrounding you - positive or
negative? The choice is yours!

Flexibility includes the ability to adapt to changing situations and allowing
one's own beliefs and habits to change as needed. As our world changes at an ever-rapid
pace, we need to find ways to adapt and change ourselves with it.

Learning to see trends and prepare for them is one way of learning flexibility.
Another is to learn about ourselves, our own strengths and our weaknesses.
Then, work to
operate from our strength, allowing others to help us with our weaknesses.

People who enjoy their life work harder, make more money, have more confidence in
themselves, have more friends and are far healthier than people who worry constantly,
fight with others, feel frightened all the time, abuse their health and have low
self-respect.

Starting today, you can change your life - simply by changing how you see the world. If
you put a smile on your face, learn to see the beauty all around, take a deep breath
instead of criticizing someone, count to 10 when frustrated, and take a walk instead of
throwing a punch - life will become more fun for you too!

Reducing stress requires a willingness to appreciate nature, to see what others are too
busy to see - the peaceful way that nature changes and grows all around us.

Do the Robins worry about whether Spring on time? Do the Daffodils worry about whether
the snow will keep them in the ground? Does the rain worry about whether it will have room
to run when it falls into the creek bed?

Do the Sun and the Moon fight about which is better or which is brighter?

Lighten up! Allow your life to unfold with all the beauty and excitement of watching a
rainbow form in the sky!

Greet each day with a sense of wonder and expectation of wonderful things - before
long, you'll be seeing magic and joy, instead of grief and heartache. Smile when you see
someone, say "hello" to a new employee, help a stranger find their way, take a
moment to smell the roses!

The choice is yours! The rest of your life is yet to be lived. Will you choose to live
it happily, or choose to live it unhappily? The choice is yours and yours alone!

Spirituality is Finding Your Self

Your self (small "s") is the person you are here on this planet.
Your Self
(capital "S") is the greater energy of the Universe that connects all of
us. Learning about who you are, how you can control your world by changing your attitude,
and learning to respect and accept others helps unite us together,
strengthening that universal energy that keeps us alive.

What you call this universal energy is unimportant. It is there, whether we see
it, feel it or believe it. When we are in harmony with it, our lives are smoother and
easier. When we fight it, we are only fighting our self.

A house divided cannot stand; a person divided cannot function fully.

Whether in the workplace or in our personal lives, our attitude about the world defines
how our life unfolds. Make a choice today to live the fullest life possible - filled with
friends and enjoyable work. The world will be a better place for all of us.

Links to related pages - Spirituality
in the Workplace

We formerly sponsored an e-mail discussion group on the topic of
Spirituality in the Workplace. We are finding that spirituality is being
integrated in more and more workplaces. Again, this is not about religion,
it is about spirituality (or being more human) as we
define it above. We are very pleased to see the great expansion in
awareness over the past 15 years that our humanness is what makes us
great. Using the 7 Principles of Spirituality in the Workplace reminds us
to treat others as fellow humans worthy of respect and kindness also.

Supporting
the group are several Spirituality Links pages with
links to related resources (books, articles, conferences, retreats,
speakers, consultants, wisdom & wit, inspiring items that can be downloaded,
etc.).

Rainbows & Miracles, etc.
("Creativity & Inspiration at Work")

Rainbows & Miracles, etc. is the business sponsor of The Institute for
Management Excellence website.

About our logos

The Butterfly is a universal symbol of transformation. Starting as a caterpillar
who learns to adapt to one way of life, the metamorphosis from caterpillar into a
completely different form requires a period of adjustment. Eventually, that
caterpillar emerges as a delicate butterfly that provides beauty and inspiration where
ever it is seen. The butterfly logo appears on pages related to
spirituality and the Michael system. The butterfly served as our primary
logo for many years.

The Spark of Inspiration logo (upper left) has been our logo for the past few
years. It represents our current work in empowering people to "see
the light" themselves.

History Lesson

This page was our very first web page, published in November
1995 on America
Online. At that time, when we searched for "Spirituality in the
Workplace" on the Internet, there were no other sites.